Lack of political will bane of Nigeria’s educational development

LACK of strong political will has remained the biggest problem dogging Nigeria’s education system.

This was the submission of some speakers at a conference held at the Adeyemi College of Education (ACE), Ondo, Ondo State with the theme: ‘Restructuring the Nigerian Educational System for Global Best Practices and Poverty Alleviation’.

Speaking during the lecture, the chairman of the occasion, Mrs Titi Akinsiku, noted that political will is imperative towards the collective development of the nation’s education.

Mrs Akinsiku noted that the Nigerian education system had constantly metamorphosed from the 6-5-4 to 6-3-3-4 in 1982, which was replaced with the 9-3-4 educational system, so as to meet the developmental needs of the nation.

She attributed the unstable educational system to lack of political will and inconsistent government policies in the nation’s educational system.

“To me, these are matters of semantics. The problem bedevilling our educational system in Nigeria is not nomenclature or just playing around semantics but a hydra-headed issue called lack of political will,” she said.

The chairman, alongside the keynote speaker, Dr. Olusola Adesina, from Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Oyo State; the lead paper presenters, Dr. Afolabi Oluwole from the Department of Educational Administration, ACE; Professor Kehinde Taiwo, the dean, Faculty of Technology, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife all enjoined the government and stakeholders to invest more in education.

“In restructuring our educational system to meet our future needs in Nigeria, there is the need to back up the existing structure with a strong political will. This will make it more productive and effective. Political will involves real and serious investment in education.”

Speakers further enjoined the government and other stakeholders to embrace global best practices, saying the details of restructuring could best be employed using global best practices; and that investment in education will considerably help to alleviate poverty.

The resource persons advocated proper funding of all tiers of education sector, improving the welfare of the implementers of educational policy, provision of adequate infrastructure, issuance of grants, loans and scholarship to encourage the less privileged.